Our nutritionalist James Dixon tests the best tart cherry supplements on the market, and brings you his verdict in his quest for a better night’s sleep…
If you want to optimize your health and fitness, there is one very simple, very profound thing you need to do – get plenty of good quality sleep. Ideally, aim at 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night.
This is far easier said than done. Insomnia is a rising concern, hitting many of us. Even those without full blown insomnia struggle to switch off at night and drop into deep sleep. Though there are plenty of medications that can deal with this, many have nasty side effects. Many will still leave you feeling lethargic and fatigued during the day.
This is where tart cherry can come into play. It has numerous benefits, including aiding recovery from hard training and easing arthritis symptoms. It can also be an incredibly useful tool in fighting insomnia and helping you to get a good night’s sleep.
There are plenty of tart cherry supplements out there – who wouldn’t want to buy it, and so who wouldn’t want to sell it? However, there’s a bit of an issue. Plenty of these supplements are either sub-par or at least partially synthetic. If you’re looking for an all-natural, workable, useful tart cherry supplement, you may need to look a little harder.
Or just read our list below. We’ve found some of the best tart cherry supplements going.
Our Top Tart Cherry Supplements
With so many to choose from, we have been hard at work shortlisting our 5 best tart cherry supplements. We have assessed these with regards to improving sleep and we’ve listed them in order of our most preferred – with the first on our list being a standout favorite.
Performance Lab Sleep
Performance Lab’s Sleep is one of my favorite tart cherry supplements. As I mentioned above, plenty of sleep supplements give you synthetic melatonin. They give it to you as one hefty dose and then expect you to get on with it. This can often lead to morning lethargy, undermining a large part of the reason you’re going with a sleep aid in the first place.
Performance Lab Sleep gives you naturally sourced low dose melatonin from Montmorency Tart Cherries. The low dose gives you enough to get you into a good night’s sleep without overloading your brain and keeping you groggy for hours after waking up. The high-quality source also ensures that you get plenty of antioxidants to help you overcome the aches and pains of daily living, allowing you to wake up every morning truly rejuvenated. It also encourages serotonin production, further allowing you to wake up alert.
It also uses three forms of magnesium, including the patented NutriGenesis®. Magnesium, particularly this kind of high-quality magnesium, helps your muscles to relax, further allowing you to drift into a deep, undisturbed sleep, healing properly throughout. Finally, prebiotic infused NutriCaps® helps your body to settle into its proper rhythms and maintain proper immune function and digestive health, among other things.
It’s easy and convenient to take, as are most tart cherry supplements. Simply take 2 capsules a half hour before going to bed. Use Sleep daily (or nightly) for best results.
Sleep is a completely natural, non-habit-forming blend of top quality ingredients. All told, these ingredients should help to alleviate stress and anxiety, soothe your muscles, help you to fully recover day by day, all whilst aiding your body’s ability to get good quality, deep sleep every night. Everything is fully plant-based, with the capsules themselves made from pullulan (fermented tapioca), and everything is naturally prebiotic-infused.
I tested this supplement myself for 30 days initially, and as someone who tracks their sleep with a wearable tracker I was able to assess the impact of the supplement on my deep sleep. Over the course of the month, my deep sleep was actually up by an impressive 23% compared to the month prior – and I was averaging 1 hour 23 minutes of deep sleep per night from an average sleep duration of 7 hours and 37 minutes.
All in all, I found Performance Lab Sleep to be a highly effective tart cherry supplement and with the additional benefits that come with such a complete ingredient profile, I have no doubt in recommending this as the best overall.